Liner For A Cap Or Hat With A Unique Design Pattern

ABSTRACT

A removable and disposable cap or hat liner. The removable and disposable liner having a front, central, and back portion allowing for curvature relief indentation for easy and convenient fitting inside a hat or cap, and more particularly baseball caps. The present invention also allows for easy packaging and assembly of the liner and further provides an easy method for shaping and inserting the liner into a hat or cap. The invention also provides better cushion for improved head and seal protection, enhanced thermal comfort, and improved ventilation.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority to Provisional Patent Application No.61/754,924, A Liner For a Cap or Hat with a Unique Design Pattern, filedon Jan. 21, 2013.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally related to the field of headwear, andmore specifically to hats and caps, and even more specifically to aliner that includes a unique design pattern for ease of fitting inside acap or hat to provide better head and scalp protection, enhanced thermalcomfort and improved ventilation.

BACKGROUND OP THE INVENTION

The prior art is replete with hat or cap liners that attempt to addressthe problem of providing a degree of cushion for protecting a person'shead or scalp but these liners do not include a unique design patternallowing for relatively easy and practical packaging and ease ofassembly for a user. The prior art is also replete with hat or capliners that attempt to address the problem of providing a degree ofthermal insulation for a person's head but these liners also fail toinclude a unique design pattern that allows for relatively easy andpractical packaging and assembly in the field by a wearer.

Individuals can be susceptible to bumping their head or scraping theirscalp while wearing a cap because the visor or bill attached to the capcan unfortunately impede their vision; particularly at head-levelobstacles. This problem can lead to injury for a user while they arecarrying out everyday activities such as getting groceries out of thetrunk of a car or by just simply getting in and out of an automobile.

The prior art also includes some unique hat or cap liner designs forproviding a person with enhanced thermal comfort, improved headprotection, and enhanced ventilation. For example, U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. US2004/0181854 A1 incorporates a protectiveshell to be used within a cap for providing a degree of head protection.Another prior art design provides a degree of head protection byutilizing a shell made of impact resistant material that includesventilation openings. (See U.S. Pat. No. 5,8875,289). A further priorart design features a removable liner configured for placement withinheadgear for enhanced thermal comfort. (See U.S. Pat. No, 7,043,761 B2)

However, problems exist in these prior art designs. Notably, the designscannot offer all the same features of the present invention in oneembodiment while still including a unique design pattern that isrelatively easy to package and also easy for a user to assemble.

In light of the shortcomings in the prior art, a hat or cap liner ishighly desired that provides cushion for protecting a person's head,enhanced thermal comfort, and enhanced ventilation while still includinga unique design pattern that is relatively easy to package and also easyto assemble in the field not requiring pre-assembly by hatmanufacturers.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an improved hat or cap liner havingan elongated flat sheet-like body that includes two matching oppositesides allowing for convenient shipping by hat manufacturers. In apreferred embodiment of the invention, the body of the liner includes afront portion, a central portion also referred to as the center line ofindentation and a back portion. The front portion includes a dart (i.e.,a v-shaped opening) located in the middle of the liner. The frontportion of the liner also includes curved edges located on oppositesides of each other. The front portion further includes ventilation,slits positioned directly behind the curved edges, but said slits canconsist of other types of ventilation openings. The middle portion ofthe liner includes two darts located on opposite sides of each other,and these two dart openings do not extend beyond the center line ofindentation. The back portion of the liner has a curved rear rim whichalso includes ventilation slits positioned directly behind the rim, butsaid slits can consist of other types of ventilation openings.

The design pattern comprising the front, center and back portion of theliner allows for curvature relief indentation. The curvature reliefindentation allows for assembly of the invention into a hemisphericalshaped dome providing for ease of insertion and removal to the cap.Although other design patterns are possible, a preferred embodiment ofthe invention generally comprises the outer perimeter shape asillustrated in FIG. 1 that also allows for ease of shipment by hatmanufacturers because of the flat sheet-like body of the liner.

It is therefore a feature of the invention to provide better cushion forimproved head and scalp protection of users of hats or caps.

It is also another feature of the invention to provide enhanced thermalcomfort for a user; particularly users that do not have hair.

It is yet another feature of the invention to provide enhancedventilation that reduces odor and increases the life of a hat or cap.

It is an additional feature of the invention to provide a hat or capliner that is reusable and disposable.

It is yet an additional feature of the invention to provide a removablehat or cap liner that may be worn by users of different head sizes.

The present invention also provides a new hat or cap liner which may beeasily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.

An even further feature of the present invention is to provide a new hator cap liner a allows for low cost of manufacture with regard to bothmaterials and labor which helps to lower the price of the liner to theconsuming public, thereby making the invention, more economicallyavailable to the buying public.

Accordingly, for a better understanding of the invention, its functionaladvantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, referenceshould be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter inwhich there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention prior toit being assembled and inserted into a hat or cap.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of FIG. 1 showing how to initially shapethe hat or cap liner with respect to the curvature relief indentationfeature of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention after ithas been shaped into a hemispheric shape-dike dome for inserting into ahat or cap.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of the inventioninserted into a cap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows the preferred embodiment of the hat or cap liner 100 priorto being assembled. The liner 100 consists of two substantiallyidentical opposed sides having a flat sheet-like body that includes aunique design pattern for fitting into a hat or cap. In the preferredembodiment of the invention, the liner 100 consists of formablelightweight, low water absorption and vapor transmission material. In afurther preferred embodiment of the invention, the material used for thehat or cap liner 100 consists of fine-celled, irradiated crosslinkedfoam known by the commercial name Volara®. Volara® is a material whichis available from Sekisui Voltek, LLC. However, the hat or cap liner canbe made from other types of materials and will not deviate from theintent of the invention so long as the same unique design pattern isused.

The hat or cap liner 100 as shown in FIG. 1 includes a front portion110, a central portion 120 also referred to as the center line ofindentation, and a back portion 130. The front portion 110 of the liner100 has a dart 10 which is not as deep as either dart opening 40 or dartopening 50 and does not extend down beyond the center line ofindentation. The front portion 110 of the liner 100 also includescurved-top edge 20 and curved-bottom edge 30 which are both located onopposite sides of each other. Curved-top edge 20 extends from the frontedge of dart opening 10 to the top edge of dart opening 40 which islocated on the top portion of the liner 100. Curved-bottom edge 30 ofthe liner 100 extends from the bottom edge of dart opening 10 to thebottom edge of dart opening 50 which is located on the bottom portion ofthe liner 100. Also, curved-top edge 20 and curved-bottom edge 30 bothinclude ventilation slits 90 positioned directly behind said curvededges. However, said slits 90 can consist of other types of ventilationopenings without deviating from the intent of the invention.

The central section 120 of the liner 100 includes dart opening 40 anddart opening 50 that are both located on opposite sides of each other.Dart opening 40 is located on the top central portion of the liner 100and does not extend below the center line of indentation 120. Dartopening 50 is located on the bottom central portion of the liner 100 anddoes not extend above the center line of indentation 120.

The back portion of the liner 100 includes a curved rear rim 60 that hasventilation slits 90 positioned directly behind it but said slits 90 canconsist of other types of ventilation openings without deviating fromthe intent of the invention. The back portion 130 of the liner 100 alsoincludes two rear angled edges located on opposite sides of each other.Rear angled edge 70 is located directly on the top rear portion 130 ofthe liner 100. Rear angled edge 80 is located directly on the bottomrear portion 130 of the liner 100.

FIGS. 2 through 4 illustrate how the present invention can be shaped andinserted into a cap based on the unique design pattern of the invention.FIGS. 2 through 3 illustrate the curvature relief indentation feature ofthe invention that permits the flat sheet-like body to reform into ahemispherical shape dome for easy insertion and removal from a cap.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is achieved by placing a capupside down in a user's lap as illustrated in FIG. 4 and then looseningthe adjustment belt of the cap. After the adjustment belt has beenloosened the sweatband in the cap should be flipped out and then theliner 100 can be shaped into a hemispherical shape dome as illustratedin FIGS. 3 through 4. Once the invention has been shaped into ahemispherical shape dome it can be easily inserted into a cap byaligning the dart opening 10 to the front portion of the cap and thenthe sweatbands can be refolded over the edges of the liner 100. Next, auser can put the cap on and then readjust the belt to the desired fit.

As stated earlier, the preferred embodiment of the invention utilizes afine-celled, irradiated crosslinked foam known as Volara® that providesimproved cushion for a user once it is inserted into a cap. The improvedcushion helps to protect a user's head from scrapes and bumps while thatperson performs everyday activities. A person wearing a cap can besusceptible to bumping their head or scraping their scalp since thevisor or bill of a cap can unfortunately impede their vision. Similarly,the enhanced cushion provided by the foam can also benefit children wholike to wear caps while playing. Moreover, users of caps who are frailsuch as elderly individuals or patients convalescing can also benefitfrom the enhanced cushion provided by the foam since they can besusceptible to bumping or scraping their head when carrying out basiceveryday activities while wearing a cap.

In another embodiment of the invention, the Volara® foam can alsoprovide enhanced thermal comfort when used as the preferred material forthe hat or cap liner. On cold days, a user of the invention can benefitfrom the enhanced thermal comfort added by the liner because it can helpto prevent a user from losing body heat through their head. Forinstance, individuals who have lost their hair due to hereditary reasonsor because of chemo therapy tend to lose a lot of body heat throughtheir head since they no longer have hair to insulate their head. Thepresent invention can provide enhanced thermal comfort for theseindividuals by helping to keep their head warm on cold days.

The various embodiments of the invention are exemplary of the fact thatother arrangements may be employed in practicing the invention which hasbeen set forth herein for purposes of exemplification. It is understoodthat the invention is not limited to the embodiments or illustrateddrawings set forth herein for descriptive purposes, but is to be limitedonly by the scope of the attached claim or claims, including a fillrange of equivalency to which each element thereof is entitled. It isalso to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employedherein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hat or cap liner having a design patterncomprising: A flat sheet-like body having substantially identicalopposed sides further including a front portion, a central portion alsoreferred to as the center line of indentation, and a back portion; thefront portion having a dart that does not extend down beyond the centerline of indentation, and opposed curved top and curved bottom edges; thecentral portion having opposed dart openings located at the top andbottom central portion of said liner that do not extend beyond thecenter line of indentation, both darts being deeper than the dartdisposed at the front portion of the liner; a back portion having acurved rear rim and opposed rear angled edges disposed at the top rearportion of the liner and bottom rear portion of the liner; and thefront, central, and back portion of said liner allowing for curvaturerelief indentation.
 2. A liner according to claim 1., wherein thecurvature relief indentation feature allows for shaping the liner into ahemispherical shape dome for ease of insertion into a hat or cap.
 3. Aliner according to claim 1, wherein the liner consists of formablelightweight, low water absorption and vapor transmitting material.
 4. Aliner according to claim 3, wherein the material used for the linerconsists of a fine-celled, irradiated crosslinked foam known by thecommercial name Volara®.
 5. A liner according to claim 1, wherein thebody includes ventilation slits.
 6. A liner according to claim 1,wherein the body can inc hide other types of openings for enhancedventilation.
 7. A liner according to claim 1, wherein said linerprovides enhanced thermal insulation.
 8. A liner according to claim 1,wherein said liner provides cushion for enhanced head and scalpprotection.
 9. A liner according to claim 8, wherein said liner providesenhanced head and scalp protection for children, elderly individuals orfrail patients convalescing.
 10. A liner according to claim 1, whereinsaid liner con be conveniently shipped in a substantially flatconfiguration.
 11. A liner according to claim 1, wherein said liner isreusable.
 12. A liner according to claim 1, wherein said liner isdisposable.